Two men have been found guilty of killing Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay more than 20 years after he was shot dead in New York.
The DJ – real name Jason Mizell – died aged 37 after being gunned down outside his recording studio in Queens in October 2002, and now Karl Jordan Jr, 40, and Ronald Washington, 59, have been convicted of his murder following a trial in Brooklyn.
Jurors at the U.S. District Court’s Eastern Division of New York found them both guilty of one count of murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and one count of firearm-related murder.
Reports suggest Washington yelled at the jury after the verdict was handed down, telling them: “Y’all just killed two innocent people.”
The pair face 20 years to life in prison but a date for their sentencing has yet to be set. Both men – who had pleaded not guilty to the charges – were known to the influential DJ.
Jordan was his godson and Washington had been his friend since childhood.
During the trial, prosecutors told the court Mizell had turned to dealing drugs to help fund his music career and they claimed the two men killed the DJ as revenge after he cut them out of a money-making drug deal worth nearly $200,000.
The jury also heard Jordan – who was 18 at the time of the killing – was the one who fired the gun.
Defence lawyers for the pair argued there was no physical evidence to link either of them to the killing, with Washington’s atttorney Ezra Spilke telling the court: “Mizell was a beloved artist, but convicting the wrong person … does not solve the tragedy. It just adds another one to it.”
Jury deliberations began last Thursday (22.02.24) but were delayed after a member of the panel was dismissed. Deliberations later resumed with a replacement and concluded with the verdict which was handed down on Tuesday (27.02.24).
A third man – Jay Bryant – is facing a separate trial in relation to the killing of Jam Master Jay. He’s pleaded not guilty and is expected to appear in court in 2026.
